Hmmm.... I think I need some help on this one. A long time ago (highschool), I had a car with 3 female passengers and 3 males (including myself). We were driving along a completely deserted road, at night w/ the high beams on, obeying the speed limit, and I had both hands on the wheel. From the right hand side of the road a black dog darted across the ditch. It's head impacted squarely on the license plate (later observation), and I did not have time to brake or swerve. The dog passed completely under the vehicle, howling, and was observed by the tail lights to get up and run into the darkness.

The girls inquired if we'd just hit a dog. I decided to completely deny hitting any dogs, and indicated that we'd missed it and the howling had been due to a near miss. My friend in the right front passenger seat then chimed in with a complete cock-block by stating 'No way, man, you completely smoked that dog... Wow, it must really be F'd up!' Drama ensued further aft in the vehicle, and nobody hooked up later in the evening.


So, based on the references provided, I think I'm in the clear. Rule 37 applies to wildlife, and this animal was clearly domesticated. Rules 1-6 were implemented. We were following Rule 12, but this may have contributed since the dog came from 90 degrees (of course, we'll need a judgement on this). We are clear of the oft quoted Rule 20, since there were no intersections or driveways around. Rule 23, check - headlights on, highbeams on. Rule 26, check - I actually even straightened out the license plate first thing the next morning (although, in retrospect, it doing so prevented my parents from finding out about anything).


Findings of fact:
-Definitely needed a new wingman. Talk about the wrong thing to say!!! To his credit, he did later ackowledge that there was room for improvement.
-We really were not going to hook up with any of these girls anyway.

I'm gonna have to claim 'unavoidable' on this one, but am assuming positive intent and this is of course a matter of opinion.